Moving from the jungle to the desert. Mermaid on a cactus?
Christmas for the kids
12/30/2015 It’s over. The holiday parties for the kids are completed. There were 3 and they grew in intensity and insanity as they progressed. I am blessed that 3 was the limit. I don’t know how Nidia does it. Yes, she is younger than I am, but holy crap, this girl gets shit done. She is well enough known on the island that her name is recognized almost everywhere you go. EVERYBODY KNOWS AND LOVES NIDIA. It’s very chaotic but she really has things totally under control. It just doesn’t seem that way to me and I think intense organization is needed in this type of situation. I chilled.
The one and only Nidia Webster. Photo by Ana Svoboda
The final party we did was a big one with about 500 kids. There were lots of toys donated by so many people, it’s really cool when people who don’t even know these kids or their situations, donate money so we can buy things to help them. It’s humbling. Thanks again to Walt and Judy, Beth and Aaron, Trish and Dave, Cathilee, Ginny, Ralph and Rick.
I got there around 11 Wed. to help set up. A few representatives came from Carnival Cruise Lines with lots of toys and stuffed animals. There were some really really nice things there. My friends from Alabama brought 4 backpacks and a suitcase full of toys and sandals. A lot of the sandals they brought were brand new Reef sandals and were totally fabulous. Thanks Robby, Julie, Cortnee, Jessie and Molly!! Miss Peggy (Clinic Esperanza) brought some people to see the children and to help us out for a few hours. Peggy helped cut the hundreds of hot dog rolls for lunch.
This will be an un-wordy post because I have so many pictures I want to share, so bear with me, I’ll be back in a few days with the stories about island life.
This was the best, a donation from my cop buddy, Eduardo. This is the first time Nidia has ever gotten a donation from the Police department. Thank you Eduardo Fuentes Torres!!The party was held in an open walled bar across the street from the water. Right down the street was the Cruise Dock terminal. The tables wrapped around 2 sides of the building and were full of toys.The photos are terrible because the lighting was weird. The room was round with open walls but a roof overhang, difficult to get decent lighting. More toysMinnie Mouse and Barbie bags, jump ropes, crayons, ringsStuffed toys everywhere. Some were brand new Beanie Babies..4 tables of stuffed toysMiss Peggy (Santa hat) cutting rollsToys from Carnival Cruise LinesMore Carnival stuffThe little girls will love these shoes1 huge table of sandalsBags of candy and small toys, gold for babies, red for girls, blue for the boysCarnival Cruise’s stuffed animals
And then there are the faces…and the big dark eyes with the insanely long eyelashes!
beautiesPlease take our picture..Too cute!!With his older brotherPretty girlA new friend named Greg snapped this w/ my camera..Showing me their toysWaiting for SantaLousy shot, gorgeous girlsLove the shirtLook at her shirt, it has a candy cane tucked in the beltThey love to have their photo taken, such a novelty. So different from the kids in the states who take selfies all day every day and post them for all the world to see.My friend Jeanette and I. I met her and her husband Don last year doing the food drive.Another brutal game of musical chairs. We ended up with a broken chair and a crying little boy. He was OK..It was like the Fight Club of musical chairsThe clowns were all dressed up. One did face painting and the other balloons.Cool clown shoesForming a circle to play another game.These kids..The balloon was bigger than himThis little cutie pie is 4. She was in my pics from Helene, her Mom is my friend Darla. When she saw me today she gave me a big kiss..Dimples much??They did lots of waitingAnother pretty girlbeautiful young girlsHe’s here!!a cutie with some ears..Nidia’s fabulous hat from Jeanette’s daughter. The girl to Nidia’s left with the baby (her niece) is my friend Darla, she teaches school on Helene.Santa is looking serious..love Santa’s flip-flopswaiting for SantaJust like in Punta Gorda, everyone got a Santa hat or Minnie/Mickey ears..Santa’s everywhereBeautiful smile and teethsecond pic of this girlSanta hugged all of the kids.No matter how big they were.Santa played a sleight of hand kind of game with the kids bags of candy. The boys were all giggling.HugsMy friend Darla’s nieceShe is so prettyFranklin, Nidia’s oldest son took a pic of us w/ my camera..Adorableher sistercaught her mid bite with ice creamNidia surveying the situationAfter Santa passed out the candy to the kids then we passed out the gifts.Cruise ship anchored out at sea, 3 ships in port, can’t all be at the dock.And, to end the day, my friend Ana came by with her sick German Shepherd dog Coco. I was a part of Coco’s Bucket List, places for Coco to visit. I can’t think of a better way to end my day than hugging Coco.This photo was taken by Captain Carlos Aguirre Lopez of Taca airlines. You can see the 3 cruise ships in Coxen Hole dock, then the airport runway, then the white area to the upper right of the runway is the 4th cruise ship at Mahogany Bay. It was a busy day on Roatan!!
So there you have it, the end of the holiday season on Roatan. This was the first time in a few years that Nidia didn’t do a food drive. It’s always nice to feed the needy but when it comes to the holidays there is nothing that kids look forward to like Santa and the whole legend surrounding him. Santa is not a big part of their Christmas because their families don’t have the money to buy them things. If it weren’t for the Christmas parties sponsored by various groups on the island, many children wouldn’t really have a Christmas.
Thank you so much to all of my friends who have so generously donated. You DO make a difference.
** All of the leftover things from the party were shipped to Helene, the small island that is separated by a mangrove channel but is still part of Roatan. The people there were asking for help with Christmas. Many of them have next to nothing so anything to give their children would be a blessing. They received toys, sandals, stuffed animals, bags of candy and other toys.
Living on an island was a life long dream of mine. In 2012 I moved to Roatan and lived there for 4 months, went back to the US, packed up our belongings and sold our house. In Oct of 2013 we moved there permanently. Our house was completed in July of 2014 and we moved in. After 6+ years, I was ready to go back to the US. I made the move in Dec of 2019 and my husband came a year later. Here we are in Arizona, waiting for our island house to sell so we can sell this place and move on. I guess I'm more like a traveling mermaid.
Debbie, God bless you and the rest of your friends for what you do for the people there. It would be very easy to not get involved, BUT you decided to make a difference and you do. May you have a great New Year…. Santa
Many Blessings to you in the New Year, Deb! What a huge heart you have to share and you have certainly made a difference for the people of Roatan. I see the whistle that Nidia has to blow to keep order, haha.
Debbie, God bless you and the rest of your friends for what you do for the people there. It would be very easy to not get involved, BUT you decided to make a difference and you do. May you have a great New Year…. Santa
Many Blessings to you in the New Year, Deb! What a huge heart you have to share and you have certainly made a difference for the people of Roatan. I see the whistle that Nidia has to blow to keep order, haha.